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Michelle Obama has morphed into a style icon

October 19, 2016

Tuesday night, First Lady Michelle Obama proved all that glitters is gold — rose gold, to be exact — when she attended her final White House state dinner shimmering in a chain-mail Atelier Versace gown that catapulted her to fashion-icon status. Her choice to welcome the Italian prime minister in an Italian-designed dress couldn’t feel more appropriate.​ Asymmetrical, ruched and finished in the season’s trendiest hue, the custom dress by Donatella Versace was a dramatic departure from anything else FLOTUS has ever worn. And it won the night.

Known for her love of bold color and daring prints, the first lady has spent the past eight years consistently and expertly dressing herself in pieces that run the price-point gamut. Brands like J.Crew and Ann Taylor received just as much play as luxury American designers like Carolina Herrera and Narciso Rodriguez. Styled almost always with a kitten heel, she never missed a step.

But during her final months in the White House, she has taken noticeably more fashion risks. It started July 25, when she gave her empowering speech at the Democratic National Convention. Mrs. Obama sauntered onto the stage, waved to her admirers and said, “When they go low, we go high.” She was talking politics, but high she soared in her cap-sleeved, full-skirted cobalt-blue Christian Siriano frock. Accented with bold silver earrings and matching metallic pumps, it was a moment destined for fashion history books.

She followed with another home run on Aug. 2, when the president hosted a White House state dinner in honor of Singapore’s prime minister. While the first lady has always had a love affair with American designers — especially the emerging ones — opting to wear a strapless white column gown from Brandon Maxwell was not only daring (it had an edgy split train in the back), but also unexpected. Maxwell has come into his own as a designer, but he’s primarily known as Lady Gaga’s stylist. Who knew that Lady Gaga and the First Lady would ever lean toward the same aesthetic? But based on the modern-day goddess vibes she emanated that night, the verdict was in: FLOTUS for the win.

On Sept. 13, while co-hosting “Ellen,” Mrs. Obama pulled out all the stops in her spring 2016 runway Gucci dress (look No. 4, to be exact). Reigning as fashion’s It brand, Gucci’s signature over-the-top-meets-kitsch-with-a-side-of-romance sensibility exists at the far end of Obama’s whipsmart fashion spectrum, but it was only too fitting that the queen of fashion take a spin in the Italian house’s kooky but coveted threads. She tweaked it to her liking — a covered neckline, slightly less billowy sleeves — but on that day, FLOTUS officially became a Gucci girl.

Michelle Obama has definitively cemented her status as one of the most stylish first ladies in history.